Opel Omega Lotus - Auto Sportive

If today we are thinking of a sports super sedan, it’s hard not to think of German cars. With AMG on the side of Mercedes, BMW M Sport Division and Audi RS Division, the race for the most powerful engine in a comfortable sedan has remained between them. Maserati and Jaguar are also competing in this challenge, even if they cannot boast of the frightening numbers of the first trio.

To think about Opel as a competitor to these cars today may just laugh, but in 1989 the situation was different. In those years, the British car manufacturer Lotus was under the same roof as Opel at General Motors. Through this partnership, the two brands worked together to create a sports sedan that could compete with German competitors: the Opel Omega Lotus or better known as Vauxhall Carlton Lotus.

Based on the Opel Omega, the Carlton was equipped with engine The in-line six-cylinder 3.6-liter twin-turbo engine with 4 valves per cylinder produced 377 hp. at 5200 rpm and a torque of 568 Nm at 3500 rpm. The feed was still old-school: sated up to 2.000 rpm and brutal after 4.500.

Power was extraordinary for the time: its direct competitor at that time BMW M5 E34 it had 315 hp. and accelerated to 0 km / h in 100 seconds; Carlton used 6,2.

With a shot like that and one speed sentence At a speed of 284 km / h, any supercar owner was afraid to meet a Lotus Carlton at a traffic light.

The Omega's chassis was modified with a new multi-link system at the rear, reinforced suspension and internally ventilated disc brakes front and rear, while the rear wheels were fitted with 265/40 tires on 17-inch rims.

The original idea was to install an Omega V-XNUMX engine on Corvette ZR 1, but because of the size, I had to choose a six-cylinder. The gearbox was a six-speed manual ZF and strictly rear-wheel drive, while a Holden limited slip differential was installed to send power to the ground.

The only color available was a pearl dark green called Imperial Green, which is a tribute to British sports cars. In the period from 950 to 20, only 1990 units were produced (total 1994 sold in Italy), and price in Italy it was about 115 million lire.

The Carlton remains one of the rarest and most exclusive cars of the XNUMX's.